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Ganguly D, Schmidt MO, Coleman M, Ngo TVC, Sorrelle N, Dominguez AT, Murimwa GZ, Toombs JE, Lewis C, Fang YV, Valdes-Mora F, Gallego-Ortega D, Wellstein A, Brekken RA. Pleiotrophin drives a prometastatic immune niche in breast cancer. J Exp Med 2023; 220:e20220610. [PMID: 36828390 PMCID: PMC9998964 DOI: 10.1084/jem.20220610] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/07/2022] [Revised: 11/21/2022] [Accepted: 01/09/2023] [Indexed: 11/04/2022] Open
Abstract
Metastatic cancer cells adapt to thrive in secondary organs. To investigate metastatic adaptation, we performed transcriptomic analysis of metastatic and non-metastatic murine breast cancer cells. We found that pleiotrophin (PTN), a neurotrophic cytokine, is a metastasis-associated factor that is expressed highly by aggressive breast cancers. Moreover, elevated PTN in plasma correlated significantly with metastasis and reduced survival of breast cancer patients. Mechanistically, we find that PTN activates NF-κB in cancer cells leading to altered cytokine production, subsequent neutrophil recruitment, and an immune suppressive microenvironment. Consequently, inhibition of PTN, pharmacologically or genetically, reduces the accumulation of tumor-associated neutrophils and reverts local immune suppression, resulting in increased T cell activation and attenuated metastasis. Furthermore, inhibition of PTN significantly enhanced the efficacy of immune checkpoint blockade and chemotherapy in reducing metastatic burden in mice. These findings establish PTN as a previously unrecognized driver of a prometastatic immune niche and thus represents a promising therapeutic target for the treatment of metastatic breast cancer.
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Affiliation(s)
- Debolina Ganguly
- Department of Surgery, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, USA
- Hamon Center for Therapeutic Oncology Research, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, USA
- Harold C. Simmons Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, USA
- Cancer Biology Graduate Program, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, USA
| | - Marcel O. Schmidt
- Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center, Georgetown University, Washington, DC, USA
| | - Morgan Coleman
- Department of Surgery, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, USA
- Hamon Center for Therapeutic Oncology Research, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, USA
| | - Tuong-Vi Cindy Ngo
- Hamon Center for Therapeutic Oncology Research, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, USA
| | - Noah Sorrelle
- Hamon Center for Therapeutic Oncology Research, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, USA
| | - Adrian T.A. Dominguez
- Hamon Center for Therapeutic Oncology Research, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, USA
| | - Gilbert Z. Murimwa
- Department of Surgery, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, USA
- Hamon Center for Therapeutic Oncology Research, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, USA
| | - Jason E. Toombs
- Department of Surgery, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, USA
- Hamon Center for Therapeutic Oncology Research, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, USA
| | - Cheryl Lewis
- Harold C. Simmons Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, USA
- Department of Pathology, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, USA
| | - Yisheng V. Fang
- Harold C. Simmons Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, USA
- Department of Pathology, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, USA
| | - Fatima Valdes-Mora
- Cancer Epigenetic Biology and Therapeutics group, Precision Medicine Theme, Children’s Cancer Institute, Sydney, Australia
- School of Clinical Medicine, University of NSW Sydney, Sydney, Australia
| | - David Gallego-Ortega
- School of Biomedical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology, University of Technology Sydney, Sydney, Australia
- Garvan Institute of Medical Research and The Kinghorn Cancer Centre, Sydney, Australia
- School of Clinical Medicine, St Vincent’s Healthcare Clinical Campus, Faculty of Medicine and Health, UNSW Sydney, Sydney, Australia
| | - Anton Wellstein
- Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center, Georgetown University, Washington, DC, USA
| | - Rolf A. Brekken
- Department of Surgery, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, USA
- Hamon Center for Therapeutic Oncology Research, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, USA
- Harold C. Simmons Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, USA
- Cancer Biology Graduate Program, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, USA
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Pleiotrophin Interaction with Synthetic Glycosaminoglycan Mimetics. Pharmaceuticals (Basel) 2022; 15:ph15050496. [PMID: 35631323 PMCID: PMC9147657 DOI: 10.3390/ph15050496] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/22/2022] [Revised: 04/13/2022] [Accepted: 04/14/2022] [Indexed: 11/26/2022] Open
Abstract
Chondroitin sulfate (CS) E is the natural ligand for pleiotrophin (PTN) in the central nervous system (CNS) of the embryo. Some structures of PTN in solution have been solved, but no precise location of the binding site has been reported yet. Using 15N-labelled PTN and HSQC NMR experiments, we studied the interactions with a synthetic CS-E tetrasaccharide corresponding to the minimum binding sequence. The results agree with the data for larger GAG (glycosaminoglycans) sequences and confirm our hypothesis that a synthetic tetrasaccharide is long enough to fully interact with PTN. We hypothesize that the central region of PTN is an intrinsically disordered region (IDR) and could modify its properties upon binding. The second tetrasaccharide has two benzyl groups and shows similar effects on PTN. Finally, the last measured compound aggregated but beforehand, showed a behavior compatible with a slow exchange in the NMR time scale. We propose the same binding site and mode for the tetrasaccharides with and without benzyl groups.
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Oishi T, Koizumi S, Kurozumi K. Molecular Mechanisms and Clinical Challenges of Glioma Invasion. Brain Sci 2022; 12:brainsci12020291. [PMID: 35204054 PMCID: PMC8870089 DOI: 10.3390/brainsci12020291] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/27/2022] [Revised: 02/16/2022] [Accepted: 02/17/2022] [Indexed: 12/17/2022] Open
Abstract
Glioma is the most common primary brain tumor, and its prognosis is poor. Glioma cells are highly invasive to the brain parenchyma. It is difficult to achieve complete resection due to the nature of the brain tissue, and tumors that invade the parenchyma often recur. The invasiveness of tumor cells has been studied from various aspects, and the related molecular mechanisms are gradually becoming clear. Cell adhesion factors and extracellular matrix factors have a strong influence on glioma invasion. The molecular mechanisms that enhance the invasiveness of glioma stem cells, which have been investigated in recent years, have also been clarified. In addition, it has been discussed from both basic and clinical perspectives that current therapies can alter the invasiveness of tumors, and there is a need to develop therapeutic approaches to glioma invasion in the future. In this review, we will summarize the factors that influence the invasiveness of glioma based on the environment of tumor cells and tissues, and describe the impact of the treatment of glioma on invasion in terms of molecular biology, and the novel therapies for invasion that are currently being developed.
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Ryan EO, Jiang Z, Nguyen H, Wang X. Interactions of Pleiotrophin with a Structurally Defined Heparin Hexasaccharide. Biomolecules 2021; 12:biom12010050. [PMID: 35053198 PMCID: PMC8773689 DOI: 10.3390/biom12010050] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/15/2021] [Revised: 12/21/2021] [Accepted: 12/27/2021] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Pleiotrophin (PTN) is a potent cytokine that plays an important role in neural generation, angiogenesis, inflammation, and cancers. Its interactions with the polysaccharide glycosaminoglycan (GAG) are crucial to PTN’s biological activities. In this study, we investigated the interaction of selectively protonated PTN with the heparin hexasaccharide ΔUA2S-(GlcNS6S-IdoA2S)2-GlcNS6S using solution NMR. The use of a structurally defined oligosaccharide and selectively protonated PTN enabled us to obtain intermolecular contacts using unfiltered NOESY experiments, significantly increasing the amount of high-resolution structural information obtainable. Our data showed that PTN’s arginines, lysines, and tryptophans in the two structured domains have strong interactions with the 2-O-sulfated uronate protons in the heparin hexasaccharide. Consistent with the NMR data is the observation that 2-O-desulfation and N-desulfation/N-acetylation significantly decreased heparin hexasaccharides’ affinity for PTN, while 6-O-desulfation only modestly affected the interactions with PTN. These results allowed us to hypothesize that PTN has a preference for sulfate clusters centered on the GlcNS6S-IdoA2S disaccharide. Using these data and the fact that PTN domains mostly bind heparin hexasaccharides independently, models of the PTN-heparin complex were constructed.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | - Xu Wang
- Correspondence: ; Tel.: +1-480-7278256
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Schmidt-Arras D, Rose-John S. Endosomes as Signaling Platforms for IL-6 Family Cytokine Receptors. Front Cell Dev Biol 2021; 9:688314. [PMID: 34141712 PMCID: PMC8204807 DOI: 10.3389/fcell.2021.688314] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/30/2021] [Accepted: 04/28/2021] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Interleukin-6 (IL-6) is the name-giving cytokine of a family of eleven members, including IL-6, CNTF, LIF, and IL-27. IL-6 was first recognized as a B-cell stimulating factor but we now know that the cytokine plays a pivotal role in the orchestration of inflammatory processes as well as in inflammation associated cancer. Moreover, IL-6 is involved in metabolic regulation and it has been shown to be involved in major neural activities such as neuroprotection, which can help to repair and to reduce brain damage. Receptor complexes of all members formed at the plasma membrane contain one or two molecules of the signaling receptor subunit GP130 and the mechanisms of signal transduction are well understood. IL-6 type cytokines can also signal from endomembranes, in particular the endosome, and situations have been reported in which endocytosis of receptor complexes are a prerequisite of intracellular signaling. Moreover, pathogenic GP130 variants were shown to interfere with spatial activation of downstream signals. We here summarize the molecular mechanisms underlying spatial regulation of IL-6 family cytokine signaling and discuss its relevance for pathogenic processes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dirk Schmidt-Arras
- Institute of Biochemistry, Christian-Albrechts-University Kiel, Kiel, Germany
| | - Stefan Rose-John
- Institute of Biochemistry, Christian-Albrechts-University Kiel, Kiel, Germany
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